Experience · Iceland

Snorkelling between continents at Silfra

Silfra is a flooded crack between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates, filled with glacial water filtered to one-hundred-metre visibility.

Best forAdventure seekers · Divers & snorkellers · Couples
In October5°C · 15 rainy days
Ideal stayA half-day trip from Reykjavík
Approx. flying time~8h 50m from Los Angeles

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Snorkelling between continents at Silfra, Iceland

Happens around Silfra, Iceland — nearest airport Reykjavík (KEF), about 78km away.

CurrencyISKIcelandic króna
LanguageIcelandic
Local time12:051h behind the UK
PlugsType C / FBring an adapter
Drive on theRightOpposite to the UK
Dialling code+354

The experience

Silfra is a fissure in the rift zone at Þingvellir, where the North American and Eurasian plates pull apart, filled with meltwater filtered for decades through lava rock. Visibility runs to around 100 metres, so floating on the surface feels closer to hanging in air than to swimming. A slow current carries you down a canyon of blue and green, past walls that in places come close enough to touch on both sides.

Tours provide drysuits, hoods and gloves along with a full briefing, and no diving qualification is required for snorkelling. The whole thing takes a couple of hours including kitting up, at a site inside Þingvellir national park about 45 minutes from Reykjavík, which puts it on the Golden Circle route. It runs year round, and the water sits near 2°C in every season. Operators set minimum age and swimming requirements.

Ideal stay: A half-day trip from Reykjavík
The vibe: Glacial, weightless, quietly astonishing

From our guides

In a drysuit (provided, with full briefing) you float weightless down an electric-blue canyon, technically touching two continents at once. The water is 2°C; the adrenaline handles it. No diving qualification needed — only the nerve to slide in.

Featured in Ten adventures you can do without any training

Make a trip of it

The Big Crack

The narrowest section, where the fissure walls close in on both sides. The classic photograph of touching two continents comes from here.
The Cathedral

A long, deep stretch of the fissure where visibility opens right out and the far end is visible around 100 metres away.
The lagoon

The shallow, bright blue pool at the end of the drift, where groups usually climb out onto the steps.
Þingvellir

The national park around the site, where Iceland's assembly met from 930 AD, set in the rift valley itself. Walk the Almannagjá gorge.
Golden Circle

The Geysir hot spring area and the Gullfoss waterfall are both within an hour, making an easy full day from Reykjavík.

Getting there

Fly to
Reykjavík (KEF)

Nearest airport to Silfra, about 78km away as the crow flies.
Then
To Reykjavík

International flights land at Keflavík (KEF), about 45 minutes by coach or car to Reykjavík; the city airport (RKV) handles domestic routes only.
On the ground
Getting around

Silfra is roughly 45 minutes east of Reykjavík in Thingvellir National Park. Operators pick up from city hotels, or you drive yourself to the dive car park and meet the guides there, where drysuits and briefing are provided.

Public transport: No useful bus serves Thingvellir, so it is the tour transfer or a hire car.

Flights

Los Angeles Silfra, Iceland

Flying from

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Roughly 8h 50m in the air from Los Angeles (LAX), estimated from the distance — check for a direct route. Pick a month to see every available flight with live prices.

Check dates and prices

Pick your departure date, then your return.

Search flights

Flight times are estimates; prices open on Google Flights.

When to go

Daytime highs run from about -2°C in December to 14°C in July. Wettest in May, with rain on about 20 days.

The year at a glance — pick a month for detail

October5° · rain 15 daysCold and often wet.

Monthly figures averaged from daily records for 2020–2024 at this location (ERA5 reanalysis).

Where to base yourself

City hotels and apartments in Reykjavík, plus country hotels, guesthouses and farm stays around the Golden Circle. Rural options are few and close in deep winter.

Best base overall
Reykjavík

Nearly all Silfra tours collect from the city, so this is the practical base, with the widest choice of rooms and somewhere to eat afterwards. About fifty minutes each way.
Find stays in Reykjavík
Closest to the sights
Þingvellir and Laugarvatn

The lakeside village and scattered farm hotels near the national park put you minutes from the fissure for an early slot. Almost nothing else is open in winter.
Find stays in Þingvellir and Laugarvatn
Best value
Selfoss

A workaday town south east of the park with guesthouses and apartments at lower rates than the capital, handy if you are continuing along the south coast. Short on atmosphere.
Find stays in Selfoss
Best with children
Hafnarfjörður

A harbour town on Reykjavík's southern edge with family apartments, a swimming pool and easier parking. Most tour buses will still collect from here by arrangement.
Find stays in Hafnarfjörður

Worth knowing before you book: Silfra tours have a minimum age and a height and weight range for drysuits, and winter slots go early, so book the dive before the room.

Search everything else in Reykjavík by budget. These are indicative budget bands in GBP per night for two people, not live quotes or guarantees of hotel type. Check your dates, guests, taxes and final price on Booking.com.

Or see everything in Reykjavík

Good to know

Book ahead: Slots are limited and sell out in summer. Booking weeks in advance is normal, particularly for morning departures.
Requirements: Operators require you to swim, to fit their drysuits and usually to meet age and height limits. Check the criteria before booking.
Pack this: Thin thermal base layers and warm socks go under the drysuit. Bring a hat and dry clothes for afterwards, since hair gets wet.
Cold: Hands and face are the only exposed parts and they go numb quickly. Tell the guide immediately if you are struggling.
Park fee: Þingvellir charges for parking, paid online or at the machines. It is separate from the price of the tour.